Quote
Title5Take1

Quote
whitem8

Quote
Title5Take1
I'm reminded me of an interview I read with Denny Laine's ex-wife, Jo Jo. Denny Laine was a member of Paul McCartney's group Wings, and Jo Jo was a Wings fan. She met Denny as a Wings fan and ended up marrying him. She said Paul and Linda had a disdain for her. The interviewer asked her, Why the disdain? Jo Jo answered, "Because I came into their circle as a fan."

And from all accounts she was very difficult and a muck raker. She was often trying to get Denny to assert himself, and from what I have read was quite a drinker as well, and could get quite loud and obnoxious. They were only married a short time. Nice to hear that Lane is currently working on a book project with McCartney. He had some tough knocks and sounds like he is of the same financial planning philosophy as Ronnie, he had to file for bankruptcy in the mid 80's. He is a regular feature at Beatle conventions as well.

Yeah, I knew they had a falling out, and a lot of it due to the cancellation of the 81 tour. Here is a link to the book story:
[www.starpulse.com]


That's interesting. I'd read Denny Laine wrote a tell-all series in some British newspaper years ago (that I've never read...despite trying to track it down) that burned his bridges with McCartney for good. But time healed the wounds, I guess. Jo Jo did come across as a bit of a brat in that interview.

Quote
whitem8
Yeah, I knew they had a falling out, and a lot of it due to the cancellation of the 81 tour.

Quote
Naturalust
of course, Mick is friendly with lots of folks in the production side of things. Everybody is a Stones fan, he would be living a lonely life if he only chose people who weren't fans.

Don Was is a good example.
I've personally seen Mick at parties and rock shows 4 or 5 times but never had the courage (or reason) to approach him. His girlfriends probably all started out as fans. His hired musicians for his`solo work are`still considered friends and started off as fans, people like
Joe Satriani.

As far` as real deep brother like friends i doubt he has any besides his real brother and Charlie Watts. Everybody of course wants to be his friend, a lonely life in a way, kinda like the coke dealers of old, never sure what the ulterior motives are.. peace

Quote
gotdablouse
Isn't it annoying when you arrive in a thread where content has been deleted by the poster...

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
gotdablouse
Isn't it annoying when you arrive in a thread where content has been deleted by the poster...

I was just reading it, and for some reason refreshed my browser, and...

I guess there were good reasons for deleting it, though.

Quote
latebloomer
Swiss, that's quite a story.
I think most everyone they are friends with must be fans, to a degree. There are a few exceptions, I'm sure, like Linda Keith, whom Keith claimed hated his music.

Quote
swiss

Quote
latebloomer
Swiss, that's quite a story.
I think most everyone they are friends with must be fans, to a degree. There are a few exceptions, I'm sure, like Linda Keith, whom Keith claimed hated his music.

Fascinating about Linda Keith--I hadn't heard/read that, but she was so critical of Keith at that time, in general. Guess he and his music weren't cool enough yet - ha!

Quote
swiss

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
gotdablouse
Isn't it annoying when you arrive in a thread where content has been deleted by the poster...

I was just reading it, and for some reason refreshed my browser, and...

I guess there were good reasons for deleting it, though.

Sorry gotablouse, and hi DandePow -- so, I had second thoughts, because you make yourself pretty vulnerable when you post a story like the one above.

However, I had "third thoughts" (is that a thing?) and decided: fock it, my friends who independently reviewed her emails to me, and who helped craft the letter, per her instructions, include an author of a beloved Stones book, a seasoned journalist who's anything but naive, a discerning lawyer, a professor at Harvard, my Altamont co-producer who's a shrewd judge of character, and --frankly-- me, with a keen bullshit detector.

So, I'm telling the story for the first time here. And will tell it again, someday, after I do finally get an interview with Keith, as part of the meta-story behind what it will have taken to get these Altamont pieces completed. Not for the faint of heart, I assure you

-swiss

Quote
swiss
Just stumbled upon this thread for various reasons, and I thought I would finally tell the story of what happened last year....

Last Fall, when EOMS was getting started, a woman who is known in online Stones' communities as an "insider"--and who is banned from IORR--contacted me, saying she had been following the progress of my Altamont projects, was supportive of my efforts, wanted to help, knew I was still trying to get even a short interview with Keith Richards, and would be willing to draw on her personal relationship with Keith for me.

It was incredibly kind, and I was touched and grateful, as you can imagine.

Over the past "few" years, I've tried every which way imaginable to get even a super-brief interview with Keith---who was at Altamont the night before---short of completely undignified or unethical approaches (e.g., I was given Jane Rose's personal phone number, but was told I could not tell her how I got it--so I've never used it, etc.) I've gotten countless "sure leads," from everyone from childhood friends to college and grad school contacts (among them, Connecticut neighbors of Keith's), to professional colleagues "in the business," to known musicians and production people, people in film, on and on--none of which have panned out.

But back to this woman--who seemed respected on IORR, and I presumed people here knew her personally, given the respect she was accorded--I asked exactly how she knows Keith. She sounded balanced, modest, credible, but said I needed to know who she is in the real world. After all: online is online--and unless you use your own name or provide other identifying/confirmable information, online anyone can claim to be anyone, anywhere.

She told me her first name only (a slight yellow flag--she didn't not offer her last name; she just didn't offer it), and shared the story of her and Keith's meeting, connection, and long platonic friendship. They met way back in 1977 when Keith was arrested and confined to the hotel in Toronto, when she was in grad school there. Her story--which she told in detail--was not filled with dramatic flourishes, and seemed utterly plausible. She told me "he has many friends here," and went on to describe details about the 1977 situation I'd nt heard before--again, nothing sensationalistic, totally plausible and consistent--many personal details about Keith, vacations with the family in the region where she and her husband have a place in Canada. She told me about her profession, all the schools she attended, where she worked until she retired, about her husband who teaches film at an institution in Toronto, Keith's relationship with others in Toronto, etc.

She said she would hand-deliver a letter to Keith at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Under the Influence was premiering---less than 1 week away.

She was very specific about what I should write, and how I would wrote it. She edited, made suggestions to wording, focus, tone, even grammar--all based on how well she knows Keith and what would likely appeal to him. She told me she would print out copies of my letter for Keith but also 5 other copies for those accompanying Keith, most of whom she also knows from somewhat to well--given that it might be chaotic. She alluded to a possibility of her and her husband maybe having dinner with some of this group, etc. but wasn't sure how the night would pan out.

Even this sort of hedging sounded completely realistic. Anyone who does actually know Keith--particularly if they were going out of their way to help a stranger--would not: (a) over promise, (b) provide excessive detail, (c) likely be 100% sure of what would transpire after a public awards event/festival. Keith's schedule is Keith's schedule, and I am sure it is....subject to change.

All my friends and family knew--my best writer friends were chiming in on this--working with me to craft the last-chance letter that would finally get through to Keith's eyes, hand-delivered from this trusted dear friend. She seemed to be earnestly looking to do everything she could to help.

Incidentally, for a reality check, I forwarded her emails to my family and friends too (and Altamont series co-producer). Not stupid or naive people. Some quite jaded. Everyone was convinced she was for real.

I had little time to perfect the letter and get it to her in exactly the format she needed to print it on fine paper and put in large envelopes. She descrived the bag they would go in.

And yet, I wanted to speak with her on the phone. I thought perhaps she didn't tell me her name because she wasn't 100% sure about me...maybe she didn't know enough about me to be confident about who she was spending her "social capital" on, so I made a short video introducing myself, thanking her voice-to-ear for telling Keith about my projects and handing him the letter with the details.

However---and in the TV show "Catfish," the first sign something is awry is when the mysterious person doesn't want to talk on the phone or Skype/videochat----she'd told me several anecdotes (again, ones I'd never heard or read) citing specific and interesting (but not at all far-fetched) examples of how superstitious Keith is, and responded to my phone request and video saying that she, too, is superstitious and "I'm going to phone you AFTER the Toronto situation/TIFF and tell you everything. I'm superstitious so I don't want to talk with you prior to my getting it all done. Then you'll hear my voice, know that I'm a kindly woman who has the best of intentions."

I started researching her rather diligently then. The letter was done and submitted. She was heading to Toronto to meet up with her husband and attend the event in the next couple of days, and then cautioned me that she would then be on vacation with another couple for a week.

My research did not turn up a Marianne in the department at the University. I spoke with the chair of the department, and to the administrative person who had been there for 20+ years. No Marianne. I found that the University did not have a film school, and no one by her husband's name even taught film theory or criticism there. The film schools in Toronto also indicated that have not had an instructor with her husband's name, ever.

TIFF came and went. I did not hear from her.

I finally reached out, and long story short she blew up at me for doubting her integrity, and said she had no control over what happened that night, and that this kind of pressure and questioning is why she never gets involved with doing kindnesses for ungrateful fans. I wrote and said I didn't mean to pressure her--I was just following up, and wanted to hear all the great details of the night, as she indicated she'd be sharing.

Radio silence.

Meanwhile---my curiosity quite piqued by now---I was in touch with Jane Rose's office---as I am every 6 to 9 months, pitching an interview again and again (they're always polite and pleasant, kind-sounding and professional)---and asked about Keith's friend "Marianne." No big surprise...no one there knew of a "Marianne," or other old Toronto friend meeting up with Keith before or after TIFF.

So, I did call the show CATFISH. When the show's producer heard that someone had catfished me, pretending to be a close old friend of Keith Richards they were interested. Who wouldn't be? It's kind of amusing. However, what we viewers don't realize is the CATFISH him or herself has to be the one to initiate a CATFISH episode. Not the person who was catfished.

I emailed Marianne, and gave her the phone number of the producer of CATFISH, and said she would be happy to get a call from her, and I would be happy to know why she did this. She emailed me back -- speaking to my plebian ingratitude, said she was canceling that email account, and not to bother writing again. I didn't.

------------So, that is my long story to answer the question of the original post: "Have the Stones ever befriended a fan?"

-swiss

Quote
swiss
Just stumbled upon this thread for various reasons, and I thought I would finally tell the story of what happened last year....

Last Fall, when EOMS was getting started, a woman who is known in online Stones' communities as an "insider"--and who is banned from IORR--contacted me, saying she had been following the progress of my Altamont projects, was supportive of my efforts, wanted to help, knew I was still trying to get even a short interview with Keith Richards, and would be willing to draw on her personal relationship with Keith for me.

(big electron saving snip)

I emailed Marianne, and gave her the phone number of the producer of CATFISH, and said she would be happy to get a call from her, and I would be happy to know why she did this. She emailed me back -- speaking to my plebian ingratitude, said she was canceling that email account, and not to bother writing again. I didn't.

------------So, that is my long story to answer the question of the original post: "Have the Stones ever befriended a fan?"

-swiss

Quote
swiss

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
gotdablouse
Isn't it annoying when you arrive in a thread where content has been deleted by the poster...

I was just reading it, and for some reason refreshed my browser, and...

I guess there were good reasons for deleting it, though.

Sorry gotablouse, and hi DandePow -- so, I had second thoughts, because you make yourself pretty vulnerable when you post a story like the one above.

However, I had "third thoughts" (is that a thing?) and decided: fock it, my friends who independently reviewed her emails to me, and who helped craft the letter, per her instructions, include an author of a beloved Stones book, a seasoned journalist who's anything but naive, a discerning lawyer, a professor at Harvard, my Altamont co-producer who's a shrewd judge of character, and --frankly-- me, with a keen bullshit detector.

So, I'm telling the story for the first time here. And will tell it again, someday, after I do finally get an interview with Keith, as part of the meta-story behind what it will have taken to get these Altamont pieces completed. Not for the faint of heart, I assure you

-swiss

Quote
swiss

------------So, that is my long story to answer the question of the original post: "Have the Stones ever befriended a fan?"

-swiss

Quote
swiss

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
gotdablouse
Isn't it annoying when you arrive in a thread where content has been deleted by the poster...

I was just reading it, and for some reason refreshed my browser, and...

I guess there were good reasons for deleting it, though.

Sorry gotablouse, and hi DandePow -- so, I had second thoughts, because you make yourself pretty vulnerable when you post a story like the one above.

However, I had "third thoughts" (is that a thing?) and decided: fock it, my friends who independently reviewed her emails to me, and who helped craft the letter, per her instructions, include an author of a beloved Stones book, a seasoned journalist who's anything but naive, a discerning lawyer, a professor at Harvard, my Altamont co-producer who's a shrewd judge of character, and --frankly-- me, with a keen bullshit detector.

So, I'm telling the story for the first time here. And will tell it again, someday, after I do finally get an interview with Keith, as part of the meta-story behind what it will have taken to get these Altamont pieces completed. Not for the faint of heart, I assure you

-swiss